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Battle of Myokokogen
The Battle of Myokogen was a battle in the Honshu War which immediately followed, and is sometimes considered an extension of the Siege of Myoko. The battle marked the southernmost advance of JSDF forces into Shogunate territory in the northern sector of the Eastern Front until 2260. The battle was a tactical victory for the Shogunate, managing to push back the JSDF assault on the pass through the mountains into Myokokogen and retake the area south of Sekiyama in a subsequent counterattack. Attempts to retake the town of Sekiyama itself, however, failed as the JSDF had superior numbers of troops in the area by the time of the Shogunate counterattack. The front would stabilize near the Otagiri River, located between between Sekiyama and Myokokogen until 2260. While the battle was tactical victory for the Shogunate, they made only small gains, being unable to retake most of the land captured by the JSDF, and in the process suffered more casualties than the JSDF. This would the beginning of the gradual attrition that would slowly weaken the Shogunate, who, with their smaller population, could not replace the numbers of men the postwar Japanese state could. JSDF Attack On August 22nd, 2283, after an initial failed assault on Mount Myoko on the 21st, launched a second larger-scale two-pronged attack on both the northeast slopes of Mt. Myoko and the town of Myokokogen to the south of the mountain. In total, the assault force would total over ten thousand men, including about 4000 attacking Mount Myoko and the remainder into Myokokogen. After Shogunate positions were hit by artillery and air attacks through the night, the JSDF launched their first attacks starting as sun rose around 0730 hours. Mount Myoko The second assault up Mount Myoko would split into two halves, one attacking up the north side of the Otagiri, a tributary of the Seki River and a second attacking from the south, breaking off from the main force attacking Myokokogen after crossing the Otagiri River. By 0800 hours, the northern assault force on Mount Myoko had cleared the forests on the lower slopes of Mount Myoko in heavy infantry combat, allowing vehicles to pass along the roads and support the capture of the nearest of several pre-war resorts that were located along the slopes of the mountain. After passing through an open area that had been a golf course prior to the war, the JSDF troops were again forced to fight through more forested areas while under mortar and artillery fire from Shogunate positions near Sekionsen, another pre-war resort located to the west near where the slopes of Mount Myoko greatly increased in steepness. The artillery fire was partially suppressed by JSDF counterbattery fire and air attacks by both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. Nonetheless, it would not be until 0930 hours before the JSDF cleared the second area of forests, allowing the tanks to move up on Sekionsen, supporting the infantry by demolishing much of the pre-war resort town that had no been destroyed by air or artillery fire. Nonetheless, the buildings, along with an entrenched Shogunate mortar and artillery battery located on a pre-war road slightly upslope from the resort were finally cleared, by which point most of the building been razed to the ground by artillery fire or flamethrowers. By 1000 hours, the Sekionsen had been cleared of Shogunate forces, however, further advance to the east was halted by the Shogunate's destruction of a pre-war tunnel leading further up the slopes of Mount Myoko along the Otagiri River. Nonetheless, the JSDF held the area north of the lower Otagiri gorge and east of the tunnels by 1000 hours. The advance of the force meant to advance along the south side of the Otagiri was slowed by the destruction of both of the largest pre-war bridges over the gorge. This slowed the JSDF advance considerably, forcing them to use a narrow road through the gorge not intended for heavy vehicles. For this reason, sufficient force for the assault on both Myokokogen and the larger pre-war resort town of Akakura was not available until around 0930 hours. While the JSDF managed to hold a bridgehead and begin their assault, this gave the Shogunate time to strengthen their defenses around both towns. After crossing the Otagiri, the JSDF forces had to advance slowly through dense forest on narrow pre-war roads in poor condition. This further slowed their advance as armored forces were forced to advance slowly, only moving up after the infantry had cleared the forests in further heavy fighting. It was not until around 1100 hours that the JSDF forces reached the southeast corner of Akakura, through which the main line of Shogunate defense ran. Like with Sekionsen, the JSDF in Akakura were forced to fight street to street against the Shogunate troops holding town using grenades, shotguns, and flamethrowers. While the advance was slow, the attack on Akakura did divert some of the Shogunate troops holding the east side of the Otagiri gorge, allowing the JSDF forces to push across the narrow road from Sekionsen. By 1230 hours, the JSDF held the tops of the pre-war ski slopes east of Akakura, fully pushing the Shogunate back to the town. As the JSDF forces began to advance further into Akakura, the the Shogunate was gradually pushed back, until, by 1400 hours, the they had pushed as far as the remains of the pre-war post office. By this point, however, the JSDF started moving into range of Shogunate mortars and artillery in a series of defensive lines between five and 12 kilometers distant, while moving out of the range of their own artillery, concentrated mostly in the Seki River Valley around Myoko. While the JSDF had near total air superiority, the number of anti-aircraft guns, albeit many of them being jury-rigged from machine guns meant that low-level attacks by helicopters and piston-engine aircraft, which were the bulk of JSDF aircraft. Even the few pre-war jet fighters were forced to fly higher, limiting accuracy. This defense in depths tactic, as well as the use of the terrain, was devised by Daimyo of Nagoya Shisei Katsuragi with the intent to prevent the JSDF from pushing through the pass. By 1600 hours, JSDF advances were stopped in a the forest south of Akakura. Myokokogen After securing the Otagiri River crossing around 1030, JSDF armor advanced along the Joshi-etsu Expressway and another pre-war road running parallel to it, though their advance was, like their comrades a few kilometers, slowed by Shogunate ambushes in the forests and harassed by mortar and artillery fire. Nonetheless, the JSDF advance continued as air support knocked out the Shogunate guns in the forward lines. By 1200 hours, the JSDF had pushed to a tributary of the Seki River just north of Myoko, but their advance was slowed by the Shogunate sabotage of the bridges over the river. JSDF infantry were forced to push across the river with limited fire support from the tanks of the opposite bank and clear the area immediately on the other side. While the JSDF ultimately pushed the Shogunate Forces, consisting mostly of poorly armed ashigaru levies back, it too them until about 1300 hours before they could get their tanks across the narrow pre-war road through the gorge of the tributary. Across the tributary, the JSDF forces were greeted by dug-in Shogunate troops in the town of Myokokogen. Initially, the JSDF were able to make gains in the less dense residential areas of outskirts of town, however, by 1330, they had come upon the next line of resistance in the denser structures around the northernmost major street in Myokokogen, leading to the pre-war train station. After heavy fighting, JSDF armor managed to destroy the few Shogunate vehicles in the area and demolish the structures in which the Shogunate had mounted machine guns and other weapons. At around 1400 hours, the train station was cleared, allowing the JSDF to advance deeper into the town of Myokokogen. By 1600 hours, the JSDF had taken a pre-war hospital and post office that were part of the last line of defense, but were quickly becoming bogged down in the dense urban combat. To make matters worse, as the JSDF forces to the west in Akakura had not managed to cross the Otagiri River, they had created a salient, surrounded by Shogunate forces in the dense forests to the west and east. This was the furthest point JSDF forces would advance into Myokokogen. By 2000 hours, JSDF forces would become bogged down north of the pre-war city hall, falling under attack by Shogunate mortars and artillery in positions to the south and west. JSDF forces were forced to push back to the line near the pre-war train station by nightfall. Shogunate Counterattack Breaking the Myokokogen Salient By night fall, the JSDF advanced force in Myokokogen had pushed as far as the Myokokogen station, however, their comrades advancing through the heavily forested areas as around Akakura had been halted before crossing the largest tributary south of Otagiri River, meaning the Shogunate still held the area on JSDF's west flank, including the pre-war expressway. At 0400 hours on August 23rd, after having bombarded the JSDF forces in Myokokogen with artillery and mortars and harassed them with probing attacks, Daimyo of Nagano Shisei Katsuragi ordered a surprise night attack from the west side of the salient southwest of Akakura. While the JSDF held out for about 20 minutes, having more pre-war night vision equipment than the Shogunate, they could not hold out forever. JSDF forces retreated north in phases, attempting to evacuate as much of their valuable equipment such as tanks as possible. In spite of this, the Shogunate still captured 3 tanks and 8 other vehicles, with a dozen other vehicles of all types being destroyed by their crews to prevent capture. By 0500, the JSDF were pushed back to the second major tributary of the Seki River, with Shogunate forces attacking from both Myokokogen and from the forests across the river from Akakura. The JSDF managed to hold the tributary for an hour, allowing a number of tanks to escape to north to the next line at the Otagiri River. The Shogunate reached the Otagiri River line at about 0600 hours, but were slowed by a defense by JSDF forces on the west side of the river, with tanks and machine guns engaging the Shogunate forces as they attempted to cross the river. The Otagiri line held until about 0730 hours, by which point the Shogunate pushed through at the west side, and about ten minute later on the east end of the line. At this point, Shogunate infantry and tanks, including over 7,000 men were pouring towards Sekiyama. Assault on Sekiyama By 0730 hours the forward elements of the Shogunate attacking force were advancing on Sekiyama from the south and southwest. By this point, however, they had begun moving out of the maximum range of most of the Shogunate artillery and into the range of a greater number of JSDF guns. At the same time, JSDF tanks and mechanized infantry were rushed forward from Myoko to reinforce Sekiyama and aircraft were scrambled from the JSDF air base at the Niigata Airport. As the Shogunate tanks and Type 31 Armored Combat Suits exited the forests and advanced across open farmers fields south of Sekiyama, they became easy targets for incoming aircraft, as well as the JSDF tanks and an artillery battery on Takatokoyoma to the north. This firepower knocked out over 30 Shogunate vehicle of various types and killed over 800 Shogunate troops. By 0800 hours, the Shogunate counterattack had been halted. The Front Stabilizes By 0900 hours, JSDF forces were launching a counterattack of their own, with over 8000 infantry supported by 30 tanks and 70 other vehicles, as well as air and artillery support. The attack advanced swiftly, reaching the Otagiri River Gorge by 0945. At this point, however, Shogunate forces managed to entrench themselves on the south side of the gorge and force hold back the JSDF forces, who were funneled into a few narrow roads going down to small bridges in the gorge and and up the other side of the gorge, with the main highway bridges having been destroyed. Heavy fighting along the Otagiri continued until August 24th, by which point both sides realized that any attempt to cross was futile and returned to their defensive positions in Sekiyama and Myokokogen respectively. The frontline at the Otagiri River would stabilize until 2060, when, through superior numbers, air superiority, and slow attrition, the JSDF finally weakened the Shogunate defenders to the point that a breakthrough was possible. Category:Battles Category:Events